India News | Mohali DFO Arrested over Bribery Charges

Chandigarh, Jun 2 (PTI) The Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested a district forest officer (DFO) and a contractor on bribery charges on Thursday.

DFO, Mohali Gurmanpreet Singh and contractor Harmahinder Singh were arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh from the representatives of WWICS Estate Private Limited for favouring the firm in a project.

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They were held on the complaint of Davinder Singh Sandhu and his father Baljit Singh Sandhu, who own around 100 acres of land in the name of their company -- WWICS Estate Private Limited -- at Masaul and Tanda villages in Mohali. A portion of the land comes under section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900.

A complaint was lodged by Mohali Range Officer Ranjodh Singh against Baljit Singh Sandhu on the charges of violating the Punjab Land Preservation Act in a project.

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Ranjodh Singh said the complaint was lodged at the behest of DFO Gurmanpreet Singh and Conservator of Forests Vishal Chauhan.

Harmahinder Singh asked Davinder Sandhu to pay Rs 2 lakh to Gurmanpreet Singh. When Sandhu met Harmahinder Singh and Gurmanpreet Singh, he made a video recording of paying Rs 2 lakh to the DFO.

Harmahinder Singh told Sandhu that if he earned Rs 1 crore from the project, he should give Rs 90 lakh to the DFO, said a spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau.

When the complainant refused to accede to their demand, a case was registered against his father Baljit Singh Sandhu on May 9.

The spokesperson said a case under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against Gurmanpreet Singh and Harmahinder Singh.

Further investigation is underway, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)